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Appearances

Time Stopper can be activated only once, quickly draining the weapon's energy as time passes. This can be used to stop enemies and hazards, such as the deadly Force Beams, to bypass them more easily. A downside is that, unlike Flash Man, Mega Man cannot shoot while time is stopped, nor switch to another Special Weapon until all its energy is drained (later in the series, Bright Man's Flash Stopper remedied this dilemma to some extent). It only stops if Mega Man dies while it's active, leaving some energy to be used later. The Time Stopper also stops when Quick Man is defeated, notably during Mega Man's second encounter in the Wily Castlerematch where weapon energy is not restored. However, in the Mega Man 2 port for the iPhone, the Time Stopper will turn itself off when moving onto another screen.

Another downside is that the eight Robot Masters have devices that makes them immune to the Time Stopper, but Quick Man's device has a flaw.[1] This flaw may be the reason for Time Stopper being Quick Man's weakness; he is the only enemy in the game to receive damage from this weapon. Despite the eight bosses being said to be immune to it, with the exception of the Boobeam Trap, every boss and enemy in the game will stop with this weapon, including Flash Man himself.

Time Stopper is one of the few weapons in the series that the player doesn't have enough energy in one stock to eliminate the boss that it's strong against even if the weapon energy gauge is full, Quick Man losing one unit of his life energy for every two units of weapon energy Mega Man uses.

In the Wily Tower mode, some enemies and bosses are immune to the Time Stopper, being able to move normally while it is active. Additionally, the conveyor belts in Metal Man's stage are not affected by the Time Stopper, unlike the NES version.

Mega Man obtains Time Stopper after defeating Flash Man inside the Wily Castle. It functions like its appearance in Mega Man 2, stopping time and Quick Man being the only boss to receive damage from it, causing no harm to other bosses.

Time Stopper works different in this game. When used by Flash Man, he fires a shot from his buster. If he hits Mega Man, the player's aim will slow down for a few seconds. Mega Man obtains Time Stopper after defeating Flash Man in episode 1.

With Time Stopper equipped, Mega Man fires a shot that usually causes the same amount of damage from the Mega Buster, stopping time for a few seconds with each shot. This allows him to fire several times on the frozen target, either with Time Stopper, or by switching to other weapons to save its energy and cause more damage, switching again either before the target moves to keep it frozen or after the effect ends, using it when needed. While Time Stopper is Quick Man's weakness and causes him twice the damage of a normal Mega Buster shot, a charge shot and the other three weapons obtained at the time cause more damage to him, but are difficult to hit due to his speed.

Other appearances

In Mega Man 3, Doc Robot has the weapons and movements from the eight Mega Man 2 Robot Masters, including Time Stopper, which is used in Gemini Man's stage. However, the player can't obtain it after defeating Doc Robot.

Other media

In issue 11, Quick Man takes down Flash Man with his Quick Boomerang so he can fight against Mega Man. While Quick Man helps the hero recover, he copies the Time Stopper without Quick Man noticing it. With the new weapon, Mega Man can keep up with Quick Man and easily defeats him with a Charge Shot.

Flash Man utilized it during his first fight with Mega Man, as well as during their rematch in issue 30. Notably, he used it to escape from Bomb Man's grip, resulting in Cut Man accidentally shearing Bomb Man in the arms instead with his Rolling Cutter (as he had attempted to use it on Flash Man at Bomb Man's command). Flash Man later used the ability again during the fight against Ra Moon, where he used it to pin down Shadow Man and demanded that any Robot Masters use the opportunity to take him down. In issue 30 and 32 it is shown that he can use Time Stopper to stop a single target.

Flash Man later utilized it to halt all but Dr. Wily at Light Labs to give the latter a status update regarding Wily Castle and recruiting Shadow Man, to ensure no one else listened in. He mentions he's gotten pretty good at sparing individual targets from the Time Stopper due to Quick Man insisting on it.

Time Stopper is used by Doc Robot to stop Mega Man and give him a fatal shot, but the Robot Masters in his mind aren't able to decide which weapon to use to finish him and the conflict causes the robot to malfunction, returning Mega Man to normal. During Worlds Unite, Flash Man attempts to stop Sonic Man with Time Stopper, but the supersonic Roboticized Master isn't affected by it, suggesting that he is either immune to it, or his speed is such that even Time Stopper is, as he said, "too slow" for him.

Mega Man faces Flash Man, Quick Man, Heat Man, and Bubble Man at the same time, and his defeat appears to be certain. However, he manages to take down Flash Man when he lowers his guard and obtains the Time Stopper, using it to stop the other three robots and defeat them.